I glanced up to see Mizuki perched on the branch of a nearby tree.

Iruka-sensei glared up at him. "Now I understand!!"

Mizuki shifted his gaze over to Naruto.

"The scroll, Naruto. Give it to me."

"Don't let him have it, Naruto! Protect that scroll with your life!"

I watched as Naruto looked back and forth between the two men. Then, his gaze finally rest on me, who was sitting next to him.

We listened as Iruka-sensei continued.

"It's more dangerous than you can imagine - it holds the record of a completely forbidden ninja art! Mizuki used you because he wants it for himself!!"

Naruto gasped quietly next to me.

Mizuki spoke again.

"Naruto, even if you've read it, it will still be meaningless! I can show you what it means!"

Iruka-sensei interrupted him. "Sh-shut up, you fool!"

Mizuki continued to talk over Iruka-sensei.

"You...know what really happened in the incident where the fox demon was sealed up again twelve years ago, don't you...?" Mizuki paused for a moment before continuing. "Since that incident, the people of our village have been bound by the strictest decree."

Naruto and I glanced at each other in confusion. "I don't remember any decree...do you?"

I shook my head no.

Mizuki caught our attention again. "You wouldn't. Part of that decree was that everyone would know about it...except you!"

My gaze hardened. "I guess my family was excluded, as well..." I muttered under my breath. I honestly had no idea what Mizuki was speaking of.

Naruto was shocked. "...Except me?! Why not me? What law are you talking about?"

Our former teacher chuckled.

"What...what was the decree? What?" Naruto continued to ask this question, over and over.

Eventually, Mizuki responded. "That no one must ever tell you...that what you really are...is the demon fox!"

Naruto stuttered out his question. "Wha-what are you talking about?!" In his frustration, Naruto got to his feet. I slowly followed suit, ready to either attack or flee if the opportunity arose.

Iruka-sensei tried to interrupt again, but Mizuki spoke over him.

"In other words, you are the nine-tailed fox spirit that destroyed the village!! Until, at last, our beloved hero, the Fourth Lord Hokage, trapped and bound you...in this form."

"Stop it!!"

Mizuki ignored the yell of Iruka-sensei. "Since then, you've been made a fool of by everyone in town!"

Naruto stood shell-shocked, frozen in place, in light of the new information being bestowed unto him.

"Didn't you think it was strange? To be so despised, everywhere you went?"

At these statements, I froze. I knew what that was like. Naruto wasn't the only the village hated. They hated me, too. They despised me, too. But my reason was far more different than Naruto's. The reason the village hated me was because my family originated from the Village Hidden in the Mist. I looked up and glared Mizuki. I felt my Chakra become aggravated because of my rage toward the man standing on the branch. He continued talking, his voice grating against my nerves.

"If he were honest, even noble Iruka would admit he hates you, too!!"

Naruto snapped. I don't blame him.

"No one will ever accept you! That scroll that you've stolen...it was the instrument of your bondage!!"

I heard a weapon being thrown, and I tackled Naruto. I tensed myself, preparing for the pain that was bound to come...but...it never came.

I looked over my shoulder to see Iruka-sensei covering both of with his body.

I collapsed to the side of Naruto, still remaining under Iruka-sensei. Both of us were in shock. But Naruto spoke first.

"...why...?"

Iruka-sensei kept his head bowed, as he started his long story.

"With my parents gone, there was no one to praise or respect me. I was so lonely...I became the class clown...anything to attract attention. I just wanted someone to notice how good I was...to be proud of me. Being the class clown was still better than being a nobody. It...hurt so much. I know that, Naruto. I was so hard on you, yelling, scolding...it must hurt..." Iruka-sensei started crying. "Forgive me. If I'd been a better teacher...a better self...maybe neither of us would have come to this."

Naruto began to raise himself to a crouch, and I followed suit. Naruto made eye-contact with me, and I gave him the tiniest of nods.

We both darted out from underneath Iruka-sensei.

We jumped up and started sprinting through the branches. I jumped, while Naruto leaped like a fox. He turned his head to me.

"What's your reason?"

I glanced at him. "Huh?"

"What's your reason for wanting to save?"

I grinned at him. "Simple. You are the first person that I have known in this village who didn't judge me because my great-grandfather came from another ninja village. I consider you my first friend here. And I can't stand to see more people that I hold dear hurt. I can't stop it from happening to my mom, but I can stop it from happening to you." I saw small tears start to form in the corners of his eyes.

Suddenly, Naruto grabbed me, and we dropped down to hide behind a tree. I took a peek and saw a copy of him jumping through the trees. I glanced at Naruto and kept watching.

Iruka-sensei showed up, but the copy of Naruto rammed him with his shoulder. Iruka-sensei transformed into Mizuki, and the copy of Naruto transformed back into Iruka-sensei.

"So noble! Saving your parents' murderer and that Mist brat...and for what? What happens if we let him, or either of them, really, live?"

I tensed. That was the first true comment that Mizuki had made about me. And I was shocked to that I was included in his death threat. I didn't realize that there were those who wished for me to die simply because of my origins.

Iruka chuckled. "Then maybe the scroll is safe from a complete scumbag."

"You're a fool. I don't know about Toshihiko, but Naruto and I are two of a kind....I can use that scroll to achieve the same kind of limitless power! The demon within him hungers for that kind of strength! You were right to fear him...despise him..."

Naruto growled next to me. But it abruptly stopped when Iruka-sensei spoke again.

"Maybe I do hate the fox...but not Naruto. Not the boy. For him, I have nothing but respect. He's an excellent student. He works with all his might...but sometimes, even so, he's awkward, clumsy...a screw-up...people have mocked and shunned him...and it's given him empathy. He knows what it is to be in pain. That boy is no longer your demon fox! He is...a citizen of Konohagakure Village...Uzumaki Naruto!"

By the end of the speech, Naruto was crying his eyes out. But Iruka-sensei wasn't done.

"As Toshihiko, I don't know as much about him. But what I do know, is that he is just as amazing of a student as Naruto! He may get average grades, but he is most definitely sharper than he lets us believe him to be. For as long as I've been Toshihiko's teacher, he has never shown any of the attributes that he is rumored to have. And those rumors were only because of where his origins lie! Utagawa Toshihiko is just as much of a citizen as any of in this village!"

Great. Now I was crying.

"Aww! That's so sweet! Just hearing you say so makes me feel all warm and fuzzy! Well, Iruka...I had planned to save you for last, but sometimes thing just don't work out the way you plan...so...say goodbye!!!"

Naruto and I leaped out from behind the tree, and head-butted Mizuki in the stomach.

I ran back to Iruka-sensei to check his wounds. Naruto can deal with Mizuki on his own.

Iruka-sensei looked at me in confusion. I winked at him. "Watch."

Naruto stood, one hand on the scroll, other in a clenched fist. "Keep away from Iruka-sensei...or I'll kill you!" The tone in his voice was utterly frightening.

"Loudmouth brat!! I can kill you with one blow!!"

I chuckled at Mizuki's statement.

Naruto lifted both of his hands, letting the scroll drop on its side to the ground. He formed the hand sign that he had been training with the whole night.

"Bring it on, you jerk! Anything you throw at me I'll give back times a thousand!"

"You're welcome to try, little fox!"

Naruto smirked.

"KAGEBUNSHIN NO JUTSU!!!"

A thousand doppelgangers appeared out of smoke.

Some smack talk was exchanged between both Naruto and Mizuki, but I didn't really listen in on it. I turned to Iruka-sensei and start addressing his wounds.

"You've attained quite the wounds. A hole from that giant shuriken in the back, multiple stab wounds from being the target of kunai, you really outdid yourself, Sensei. When this is over, you are definitely going to need a trip to the hospital. If I had any supplies, I would patch up some of the minor ones myself, but I don't have any on me today."

Iruka-sensei gazed at me for bit before turning back to Naruto. "It sounds like you've had quite the experience for recognizing and acknowledging how to handle wounds..."

I simply nodded my head and turned back to the battle. We sat in silence for a couple of minutes.

"Sensei, may I ask a question?"

He nodded.

"Are you going to let Naruto graduate now? I think he passed the make-up test with flying colors, don't you think?" I gave Iruka-sensei a smirk.

He returned my smirk with a giant grin, giving me a wink.

After a while, Naruto stood, all of his doppelgangers dispersed, rubbing his head with Mizuki lying at his feet.

"Heh...I guess I got carried away..." He gave a sheepish grin.

"Naruto, come here. I've got a present for you."

Iruka-sensei made Naruto close his eyes. With pride blooming in my chest, I watch as Iruka-sensei slowly removed his head protector, and tie it gently around his head, removing the goggles, as well. Iruka-sensei handed me the goggles to hold. That was probably a smart move.

"Now, Sensei...may I...?" Naruto impatiently squinted he eye lids, trying desperately to keep them closed.

Iruka-sensei responded with a closed-eye smile. "Yes, Naruto. You can open your eyes."

The blond haired, orange-clad boy slowly opened his sky-blue eyes, to see Iruka-sensei standing before him, without a head protector on.

"Congrats...graduate!" Iruka-sensei paused. "To celebrate this, I'll take you out. We can go for ramen!" Iruka-sensei turned to me. "Toshihiko, you can join us as well, if you'd like."

Now Iruka-sensei was in trouble, because he had two little masses tackle him into the tree behind him, those masses being Naruto and I. We all fell down laughing, with Iruka-sensei exclaiming in pain, periodically.